Felton man charged with homicide

Detectives with the Delaware State Police arrested a Felton man, identified as John Hart, 48, following an eight month investigation into a death in March.

Staff reports

Detectives with the Delaware State Police arrested a Felton man Dec. 10 following an eight month investigation into a death in March.

Officers took the suspect, identified as John Hart, 48, into custody after the office of the chief medical examiner ruled the March 31 death of Michael A. Mosely, 30, of Felton, was a homicide, said police spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier.

The case began at 5:12 a.m. Easter Sunday with a 911 call from a woman who said her daughter’s boyfriend had been found unconscious outside the home in the 8000 block of Canterbury Road, near Felton, Fournier said. EMS and Kent County Paramedics declared Mosely dead at the scene. An autopsy was performed April 1, but the cause of death was left pending until a series of additional studies were completed. The medical examiner later ruled the death as homicide due to asphyxia.

Through a series of interviews and evidence collected at the scene, police determined Hart and Mosley had been drinking heavily Saturday night into Sunday morning while in a detached garage working on an automobile. At one point, the two became involved in a physical altercation when Hart ultimately held Mosley down on the ground, placing his face into the dirt until he was no longer able to fight back, Fournier said.

Hart was placed into custody Dec. 10 by members of the Kent County Governor’s Task Force and taken to Troop 3 where he was formally charged with criminally negligent homicide.

Hart was jailed at the Sussex Correctional Institution in default of a $7,500 cash-only bond.